Thirty-five years. A 94% retention rate. Forty-eight placements with one client, through to IPO.
Carol Ann Wentworth hasn’t built the biggest recruiting firm. She’s built one that lasts.
She sends three candidates per search, not thirty. Her interviews run an hour, sometimes two. She works with five core clients. Two keep her consistently busy.
“I never looked at a person as a number to fill quotas. Anybody can do that.”
In 2008, she lost her business, her home, and nearly everything she owned. Within ten days of getting clear on what she wanted, three recruiting firms had reached out. She had a job offer in two weeks.
How she rebuilt that fast, and how the same thinking shapes every search she runs today, is what this conversation is about.
Carol Ann has 35 years of experience in executive search. She is the founder of Wentworth Executive Recruiting and co-author of A Mindful Career.
Episode Outline and Highlights
- [3:54] From an international modeling agency founder at 26 to an executive search
- [6:00] Relationships and curiosity: the foundations of early success
- [14:40] The mindful recruiting methodology and what real listening looks like
- [15:39] A 94% retention rate and the process that produces it
- [17:00] The two-hour candidate interview: what she asks and what she’s listening for
- [21:01] Social media screening: what Carol Ann looks for and why
- [26:15] Ten-year anniversary of Wentworth Executive Recruiting and the 2008 crash that came first
- [35:14] Losing a business, a home, and nearly everything and landing a job in two weeks
- [38:50] Ego vs. confidence: why the distinction matters in a crisis
- [41:04] Clarity, commitment, consistency the framework she used to rebuild
- [55:36] A Mindful Career: how the book came about
The Process Behind a 94% Retention Rate
Carol Ann doesn’t send ten CVs and hope one sticks. She sends three. Sometimes five.
“If I send in three, you’re going to want to hire all of them.”
That’s a function of how much work goes in before any candidate reaches a client.
Her interviews run an hour, often two. She checks social media before reaching out — not for anything scandalous, but for authenticity. Is this a real person? Do they volunteer? What do they actually care about? She’s looking for emotional intelligence, confidence, and readiness.
She’s currently running a search for a Director of Preconstruction at around $250K. She’s been interviewing all week. She’s finding strong people, but a few have been apologetic about a gap on their CV. One had taken a year off to care for his father after open-heart surgery. Other recruiters had told him it was a bad move.
Carol Ann presented him to the client that morning.
“I know how to tell that story.”
One construction client has had fourteen placements from her over the years. Seven are still there a decade on. Another Silicon Valley client took 48 placements and brought her back in for a global search after they went public.
“Chuck used to tell me: Carol Ann, you really hear these people, don’t you?”
She does. That’s why the placements stay.
The Crash, the Legal Pad, and the Two-Week Rebuild
In 2008, Carol Ann and her husband lost their coffee house, their home, and their cars. Everything material they had built together. Their son was seven.
She watched people around her fall apart. One person in their circle took their own life.
“You can be bitter or you can be better. I’m not going to say it didn’t hurt. It was painful. But I knew I had a real choice.”
She sat down with a legal pad. She listed every realistic career path executive search, events management, a couple of others she can’t remember now. She designed a tailored resume for each. Then she studied each one against a single question: Where is my passion?
Recruiting. Events went away.
She rebuilt her LinkedIn profile. Within ten days, three firms had reached out. She had a job offer in two weeks.
She calls the framework she used clarity, commitment, and consistency. Get clear on what you can do and where you can add value. Commit to it. Show up and execute.
“Clarity with your thoughts, your next steps. Commitment to your process. And then consistency.”
The hard part is the first step. It’s easy to stay in reaction mode, chasing options, responding to pressure, moving before you know where you’re going.
Carol Ann had everything stripped away. She found out what she was good at. She went back to it.
Building a Practice That Lasts
Wentworth Executive Recruiting is ten years old. Carol Ann works with five core clients. Two keep her consistently busy.
She didn’t build a large agency. She chose not to.
“I didn’t want to go big because I am more of a consulting firm. We really become a partner. It’s like a marriage. And when they trust your judgment, for that I’m grateful.”
She works retained basis only. Sends three candidates instead of thirty. Interviews for two hours because skimming, rushing, and moving fast produce the kind of turnover that costs her clients and her reputation.
There are two ways to build a successful recruiting business. Scale more consultants, more sectors, more revenue. Or build something sustainable, consistent income, clients you trust, placements that stay.
Carol Ann chose the second. Ten years in, it works.
If you’ve been chasing growth and wondering what you’re actually building toward, this one is worth your time.
